The events dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt were held in the Hermitage.
The year 2006 was the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt. In this connection, the State Hermitage held a number of events devoted to the artist. The largest room in the Winter Palace, the Nicholas Hall, was the venue for temporary exhibitions acquainting visitors with the work of Rembrandt and with the art of Holland as a whole.
The Year of Rembrandt began with the exhibition entitled Etchings by Rembrandt from the D.A. Rovinsky Collection in the State Hermitage, which ran from 17 March until 11 June 2006. This exhibition was the first complete public showing of Russia's biggest collection of etchings by Rembrandt and his school (968 sheets). This is also one of the most extensive collections of its kind in the world. It was given to the Hermitage in 1897 under the terms of a bequest by D.A. Rovinsky.
Another event arranged to mark the anniversary was the exhibition entitled Willem de Kooning. Late Paintings. From 4 July until 24 September 2006, museum visitors could see paintings by this famous American artist who was of Dutch origin. More than 20 canvases by de Kooning (1904-1997) were presented, many of them coming from private collections.
On 20 October 2006, there was the opening of the exhibition A Collector's Taste. Dutch and Flemish Paintings of the 16th and 17th Centuries from the Collection of P.P. Semionov-Tian-Shansky. More than 120 works were on display, coming from the collections of the State Hermitage, the State Russian Museum (St Petersburg) and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow). Several works were being shown to the public for the first time.
On 15 July the Hermitage marked the birthday of Rembrandt with a special programme. On that day the museum was open until 21.00, offering visitors the chance to see all the temporary and permanent exhibitions devoted to the artist. In the Rembrandt Room, classical music was performed by artists from the State Hermitage Orchestra. A commemorative badge with the message “I love the Hermitage. Rembrandt” was released in time for the anniversary.
At the annual conference devoted to the memory of the outstanding scholar Vladimir Levinson-Lessing, who worked in the Hermitage for half a century, various aspects of studies of Rembrandt's work were examined. Among those participating in the readings were staff of the State Hermitage, the Central State Archive of Literature and Art (St Petersburg), the Institute of Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and the European University (St Petersburg). At the conference there was the first public reading of an unpublished dramatic short story by Alexander Kochetkov (1900-1953) about Rembrandt, The Head of Homer, written in 1941.
The Hermitage Academy of Music prepared a series of concerts to celebrate the 400th birthday of Rembrandt: Rembrandt. Symphonic Installations. These told about the artist's life through his work. The composer Sergei Yevtushenko, the State Hermitage Orchestra and soloists from the Academy of Young Singers of the Mariinsky Theatre as well as the Children's Chorus of Radio and Television performed works of classical and modern experimental music accompanied by the showing of rare films about Rembrandt and videos compiled from pictures by the great Dutchman.
During the whole year the Hermitage was the venue for lectures for a large public, which presented various aspects of Rembrandt's life and work.
